Pfizer and J&J Give Each Other Headaches Over an Advil ad

The executives at Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson are giving each other headaches over an ad for a widely used pain reliever.

Here’s the story: Last fall, the J&J McNeil unit, which sells Tylenol and other over-the-counter medicines, objected to an ad in several medical journals for a pediatric form of Advil, a rival product sold by Pfizer. The McNeil team demanded Pfizer immediately yank its ad on the grounds that it violated a 1989 court order preventing ads that suggest an infant form Advil is “like” or “comparable” to Tylenol for infants.

The order resulted from litigation between J&J and American Home Products, which later changed its name to Wyeth and was purchased by Pfizer five years ago. The squabble was over various false advertising claims for adult versions of Tylenol and Advil, and the order limited certain advertising claims that could be made in the future, notably the effects on the gastrointestinal system.

So the McNeil team was pained when they ran across the recent Pfizer ad. Why? The ad boasted that Advil for children has a “comparable incidence of digestive system adverse events overall” to acetaminophen, which is the active ingredient in Tylenol for infants, according to a lawsuit filed by Pfizer in federal court this week in response to cease-and-desist letter.

Pfizer pulled its ad, but argues that 1989 order does not apply to the ad for one simple reason – a children’s Advil did not exist at the time and so the order could not possibly apply to any advertising for the product. Pfizer notes that the FDA did not approve any pediatric versions of Advil for over-the-counter sale until 1996.

In the absence of such Advil ads, however, Pfizer contends in its lawsuit that “physicians and consumers are being deprived of useful, truthful advertising information that would permit them to make informed decisions about the best fever and pain relief treatment options available for their pediatric patients.” McNeil, Pfizer continues, is “improperly attempting to expand the scope” of the 1989 order.

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